1994 proved to be one of the most fertile years for Beatles-inspired filmmaking. The titles of cinematic classics either directly about The Beatles (“The Secret Of Roan Inish”, “Blue Chips”) or clearly inspired by their music (“Ski School 2”, “Wesley Snipes’ Sugar Hill”) were ’94’s dominant cultural and commercial hits. (Yeah, go ahead and f off, “The Air Up There”.)

Perhaps the most notable fab film from that year was “Backbeat”, which focused primarily on Stuart Stucliffe’s brief but incredibly/debatably important tenure as a Beatle. What does the film get right? What does it get terribly, offensively wrong? How do Beatles (and cinema, damn it) EXPERTS Tony & T.J. feel the film holds up on its’ 31st anniversary? (Forgot about that milestone, huh, Calderstone/Polydor??) The Gab Two deep dish “Backbeat”, and more, including:

🤜 Before he became a brilliant artist and bassist, was Klaus Voormann an eminently punchable German street urchin?

🍻 (Angry Chicago guy:) How come the fellas who wrote the musical “Hair” didn’t make no song about R.E.M. bass player Mike Mills? And how come The Lemonheads didn’t fix that when they had the chance? And how come the White Sox ain’t got no more dollar beer nights, why don’t Steve Dahl do something?

🐓 Would there even be a Hooters without “Backbeat?” And does that make The Beatles technically responsible for Hooters? Or vice versa? Like, could there even BE a Beatles without Hooters, man? Why are you so afraid to consider all opinions?

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One of the darkest days for the UBP was in May 1990, when Vic Tayback, a.k.a. Mel on CBS’ “Alice”, left this earth; and perhaps others. Despite taking place literal decades before the UBP began, Mr. Tayback’s death caused a deep level of pain that has us forever kissing our own grits.

Flash forward to June, 2025. Another entertainment hero is gone - one arguably bigger than Mr. Tayback - who helped define American music in the 1960’s, and inspired Paul McCartney and The Beatles to reach arguably their greatest artistic heights.* (*Does not include “Now And Then”.)

Indeed, the incredibly sad passing of Brian Wilson was felt deeply by the Gab Two; longtime Beach Boys fans who, in this episode, pay tribute to one of Macca’s undying inspirations. Along the way, they also ask:

💔 F'k Mike Love, yeah?

🍸 Is it ironic that “Kokomo” tends to be the #1 Brian Wilson-penned song for people who openly voted for/support fascism?

🏄‍♂️ Did T.J. actually mean to refer to the milquetoast Beach Boys cover of “California Dreamin” from the 1986 compilation “Made In U.S.A.” when he mentioned “Rock & Roll Music”?

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John Lennon literally said it best: "All You Need Is Love: The Cirque Du Soleil Soundtrack, on CD in multiple editions, streaming with bonus tracks on iTunes, and on a making of DVD."

And in 2020, a younger, dumber, sadly Casey-less Gab Two gabbed fab and dished deep on this album!

Now, for the first time, here's the Deluxe Edition remaster, in 5.1 Dolby NR Cr02 Color.

See you next week with an all new episode!

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[Originally released September 19, 2020]

In this episode of Pizza Talk, T.J. and Tony get acrobatically off-topic trying to discuss The Beatles collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. It contains 101 local Chicago references.

We think this episode will sell a lot of tickets for the Vegas show.